I recently made two sandbox diggers for our grandsons, Henry and Collin and their brothers, George, Alec and Beckett. You could also think of these as “backyard backhoes.” I think they’re they’re pretty darn cool looking.

The process of making these was quite involved. I knew what I wanted to make, so I looked around on the web and found a couple of designs that didn’t really appeal to me. I remembered our local hardwood dealer had one in his warehouse for awhile, and went in search of that one. I tracked down a version of it from my neighbor and used it to pattern the mechanics of my “backhoe.”

What I liked about my neighbor’s version was that the mechanism worked really well — plus it was simple and direct. The one drawback to this particular version was that the bearing for the seat was exposed, and quickly became clogged with sand in the sandbox. So a major change I made was to protect the bearing by recessing it deeper inside the seat.

I then had to decide what kind of woods I would use. I used a sheet of 3/4 inch exterior grade mahogany plywood to laminate the seat components. The rest of the backhoe is made out of cypress which is a very good exterior, lightweight wood. I decided later to paint all of the parts with exterior oil enamel because painted wood holds up much better than a clear finish outside, and it looks more playful in the bright colors I chose. A local metalsmith made the buckets for me.

As I proceeded, I tried to make templates and jigs so I can reproduce these toys. All in all, these first two sandbox diggers probably took me about a week to make. Time well spent, since I’m sure these toys will provide countless hours of fun for my grandkids and their children. Probably also fun for their parents!

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Price: $1200 plus shipping and crating. We take all major credit and debit cards.

Your Backyard Backhoes will be custom made to order and will provide years of enjoyment for generations! Please email me for more details, including order fulfillment time, custom color choices, logo designs, and shipping costs: timothyswoodworking@gmail.com

The logos on the backhoes are custom designed by my wife, Maureen, especially for the boys. Collin, Alec and Beckett Bright will be constructing imaginary things with “Bright Brothers Construction” equipment and Henry Atom and George Bond Shaughnessy are the “Atomic Brothers Construction” company.

The backhoe is heavy enough to sit solidly on the ground but light enough to pick up and move around.

Of course, the mechanism really works — and works very smoothly. You can dig with it, pick up and move objects. And I’m sure the kids will come up with other functions for these diggers!

The photos in this article were taken in Helena before we deliver the diggers to the grandkids. I will post photos with the grandkids as soon as I can.

]]>The Songs of Treeshttp://timothyswoodworking.com/shoptalk/the-songs-of-trees/
Fri, 02 May 2014 20:22:39 +0000http://timothyswoodworking.com/?p=844If a tree falls in a forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound? Maybe this classic philosophical question has finally been answered, in a magical, musical way.

Bartholomäus Traubeck, a composer from Vienna, Austria, has figured out how to translate tree rings into something akin to music. Traubeck uses technology to create “music” from the ring data on slices of seven different tree species. Listen to this piano piece by an Alder Tree:

Here’s a description of the process on Traubeck’s BandCamp profile:

A tree’s year rings are analysed for their strength, thickness and rate of growth. This data serves as basis for a generative process that outputs piano music. It is mapped to a scale which is again defined by the overall appearance of the wood (ranging from dark to light and from strong texture to light texture). The foundation for the music is certainly found in the defined ruleset of programming and hardware setup, but the data acquired from every tree interprets this ruleset very differently.

]]>Artisan’s Craft Interviewhttp://timothyswoodworking.com/shoptalk/artisans-craft-interview/
Mon, 24 Dec 2012 20:30:12 +0000http://timothyswoodworking.com/?p=822I was recently interviewed as a part of the Artisan’s Craft show at the Museum of the Rockies.

With a dining table and chairs in mind I went to our local hardwood dealer—Helena Hardwoods—in search of wood and inspiration. Dave carries many live edge slabs and we are lucky to have this source right in our hometown. After looking through many with him I came upon two that grabbed me.

That is how this table started. I bought them and let them sit in my shop for a while. I knew that I wanted to make the table top using the live edge of these slabs and use the remaining wood for the seats of the chairs. Although the two slabs would open into a bookmatached pair, they would be too wide at one end and narrow at the other for the table I wanted. So I decided to flip them end for end and join them on an angle. With this decided, I soon realized I did not have enough wood for six seats. So back to Dave’s for more wood to match.

With the top flattened and glued up and the seat blanks made, I started on the structural parts of the chairs. The original design I came up with a few years ago and have refined it along the way—recently adding arms. These chairs use the joinery developed by Sam Maloof which allows for a very flowing organic design and a wonderful play of hard and soft lines. They are also very comfortable.

Then back to the table and deciding a base for it. This is always a challenge for me—to design a base for a live edge piece that supports it in every way—structurally and aesthetically—without detracting from it. My original intention was a four legged base, but it soon became apparent that would not work with the captain’s chairs at the ends. So I decided on a trestle base that made room for both the chairs at the ends and ample room on the sides.

Although I have a very good idea of what the wood I am using will look like finished, it is still somewhat of a surprise when I actually put the first coat of finish on and the beautiful grain reveals itself. I saw a large rather shallow river with beautiful ripples and color. When describing this to my neighbor—an avid fisherman—he reminded me that this describes the Madison River here in Montana.

A further connection came when I remembered that my father had built a cabin on the Madison just outside the Park in West Yellowstone many years ago. It still stands. Too bad it is not still in the family!

Working with wood—especially live edge slabs—is a process. For me it is a process of letting the wood speak to me when I first see it, interacting with it all through the construction, and still listening and delighting when it reveals itself completely during the finishing.

“River’s Rift,” a play on the shape of a canyon, is an unusually figured piece of curly walnut with bloodwood accents. The slab is cut down the middle with the live edges turned inward and bookmatched. Walnut slabs make up the legs. A matching set of bloodwood plates and chopsticks with ebony rests accents the table.

“River’s Rift” may be used as a coffee table or a Japanese-style dining table, guests sitting on floor cushions.

A bar stool, dining stool or drafting stool … this is a versatile piece of Tim’s urban organic style. The seat is hand carved of quilted birch and fits any shape bottom. The quilted birch back provides excellent lumbar support in just the right place. Legs are cherry with purple heart accents.

With it’s comfortable ergonomic design and light weight sturdy construction, this stool encourages lingering over a marguerita or cappuccino at the bar.

Maureen’s stool can be custom ordered as a single stool or a set. Tim will make them in different woods, custom heights or back-rest styles. The leg rungs can also be customized to the perfect height for you.

]]>Gate Leg Tablehttp://timothyswoodworking.com/furniture/drop-leaf-table/
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:28:24 +0000http://timothyswoodworking.com/?p=424 The perfect piece for a tight kitchen or dining area, the gate leg table of cherry folds down to 1 ft. by 3 ft. and expands to 5 feet long to seat 6 comfortably. The gate legs make a beautiful play on their curves,open or closed. The unique design of the legs leaves plenty of knee clearance.

]]>Dining Chair and desk with live edgehttp://timothyswoodworking.com/furniture/dining-chair-and-desk-with-live-edge/
Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:19:56 +0000http://timothyswoodworking.com/?p=416“Forest Muse” Walnut Desk – shipping is additional from 1+1=1 Gallery“Forest Muse,” is made from an exceptionally beautiful live edge slab of walnut from the crotch of the tree. Because the simple pencil drawer is hidden just under the desktop., Forest Muse may be used as a desk, sofa table, accent table or for dining.

The natural splits in the slab are held together with bloodwood butterfly keys for a subtle accent.

The chair of walnut with curly maple accents can be used as a desk or dining chair. The sculpted wood seat and curved back stays make for extremely comfortable sitting.